Love Me or Hate Me...I'm still Yamato Ishida
by Yamato Ishida
Summary: What happens when Matt becomes evil...?


  
  
  
Love Me or Hate Me…I'm still Yamato Ishida  
Author: Zero (a.k.a. Yamato Ishida)  
  
  
It was pouring outside. The group was back in the Digiworld, fighting a new evil called Myriamon. The group was inside of a cave that they found, hiding from the harsh weather outside. They have found a new one to their group. His name was Baretu Osera, but everyone called him Barry. Matt looked at him. Matt was sitting at a corner by himself, finishing a fruit that TK handed him. Matt was leaning against the back wall of the cave, giving him a great view of everyone. Tai and Sora were talking by the fireplace, Joe was getting ready to sleep, Izzy was busily typing on his computer, and Barry and Mimi were on the other side of the fire, flirting. Matt just looked at them. He remembered the day when he found out his feelings for Mimi, the day he was planning to tell her. Unfortunately, that was the same day that Barry came along and started to flirt with Mimi.  
  
~Oh great, now he's feeding food to her.~ Matt saw Barry bring a small fruit to Mimi's mouth, as she gratefully accepted it by eating the fruit from his hands. Then Mimi started laughing, and fed him a fruit. Matt couldn't look at this anymore. He lay on the ground, with his hands behind his head, and knees bent up to the ceiling. Off the corner of his eye, he could see the rest of the group also lying down to get their rest for the next day.  
  
  
******  
  
  
The group started off again. They walked closer to Myriamon's castle, which was inside of a large crater created by Myriamon. They have found that the nine Digidestined are able to defeat Myriamon, all they needed to do now was to confront her. They walked closer to their destination, but Izzy calculated it would still be about two weeks before they reached the rim of the crater.   
  
Matt stayed behind the rest of the group. It hurt to see Mimi and Barry talk. That should've been me. Matt couldn't help but think about her…and him. Matt would give anything to switch places with Barry, at least for a day. Matt looked away from the couple. He then focused his gaze upon the giant crater that stood before him. He remembered the first time he saw Myriamon. She had blonde hair, a white dress, and angel wings, looking almost like a vaccine-type digimon if you didn't know better. ~The first time, we DIDN'T know better. When we first saw Myriamon, she said that she was going to help us. We didn't know she was Myriamon at first. Then, we were about to fall into one of her traps…but Barry saved us. He came from nowhere and saved us.~ Matt saw Barry's talking was interrupted by his digimon, Dyormamon. Matt then saw Barry smile, and pat his digimon on the head, as the digimon smiled back and ran to Tentomon to talk to him.   
  
"Guys! Heads up! It's some of Myriamon's goons!" Tai yelled, who saw three flying figures coming towards the group.   
  
"Those are Korugamons! Better watch out, because they're some of Myriamon's toughest henchmen!" Izzy yelled, while looking at his computer. The Korugamons started to attack the group, as Tentomon, Gabumon, Agumon, Dyromamon, Palmon, Gatomon, Patamon, Biyomon, and Gomamon digivolved into all of their Ultimate forms.  
  
"Let's go, Diazemon!" Barry yelled to his digimon, who attacked one of the Korugamons. Diazemon first used his Shock Wave to hurt a Korugamons, then Megakabuterimon used his Electro Shocker to follow up on the same Korugamon. Weregarurumon attacked another Korugamon, and Zudomon helped out with his Vulcan's Hammer. The non-hurt Korugamon attacked Metalgreymon, making him fall onto his back. Garudamon helped out by ramming into the Korugamon, then Lilymon attacked the downed Korugamon.  
  
"Let's go, Weregarurumon!" Matt yelled, as Weregarurumon used his Wolf Claw to hit another Korugamon. Garudamon followed up with by punching the Korugamon on its stomach, winding the Korugamon. Then Metalgreymon finished the same Korugamon by tackling into it, using his horn to pierce through the Korugamon's scaly skin.  
"Good job, Metalgarurumon!" Tai yelled.   
  
"Angemon, help them out!" TK yelled, as Angemon used his Hand of Fate to injure another Korugamon.   
  
"You too, Angewomon!" Kari yelled. A Korugamon was about to use its Primal Rage attack on Angewomon, but Diazemon was able to stop the attack with its Shock Wave. Then Angewomon charged up for her Celestial Arrow. "Do it, Angewomon!" TK and Kari yelled. Angewomon nodded to the kids, before releasing the arrow. The arrow hit a Korugamon right on its forehead, ultimately destroying it.  
  
"Use your Flower Cannon, Lilymon!" Mimi yelled. The final Korugamon was about to hit Zudomon, until Lilymon saved him with her Flower Cannon. Then Garudamon used its Phoenix Flame attack, hitting the Korugamon. The Korugamon fell to the ground, and was finished off by Megakabuterimon's Electro Shocker.  
  
"Good job, guys!" Joe yelled, always happy to come out a battle alive.  
  
"And you were great, Mimi!" Barry yelled, as he picked up Mimi from her waist and turned around in circles with her.  
  
"Great job…but we have to keep going." Tai said, already with Agumon leading the way. Matt was staring at Mimi, who was still being lifted by Barry. Once she was put down, she looked at Matt, who was still staring. She waved to him, which startled Matt. ~Oh, great. Now she found me staring at her.~ Matt just waved back, with an ashamed look on his face.  
  
"C'mon, Matt!" TK yelled, while tugging on his brother's shirt.  
  
"Yeah, I'm coming." Matt said, following his little brother.  
  
  
******  
  
  
It was night already. The weather was better than the night before, this one having clear skies and a bright moon. The group was beat from the day's activities. They have traveled toward the crater, with hardly any stops. Everyone had just finished eating their dinners, and now they were all talking. Matt looked around the camp. He noticed that everyone had at least another person to talk to, except for him. Matt stood up. ~They won't notice if I leave for a while.~ Matt was about to walk off into the woods, when Gabumon came up from behind him.  
  
"Hey Matt! Where are you going?" Gabumon asked.  
  
"Me? I dunno…I just figured I'd take a walk, since it's such a nice night out." Matt said, while stroking his hand through his hair and closing his eyes.  
  
"Can I come? There isn't much going on here." Gabumon said, looking at the other digimon.  
  
"Sure. Let's go."  
  
  
******  
  
  
Matt and Gabumon walked though the forest talking and laughing. Matt could talk to Gabumon about everything, except for his feelings toward Mimi. As they walked, Matt was able to take his mind off of everything that discouraged him. Eventually, they arrived at a large lake.  
  
"Wow, the night looks great." Gabumon said, looking across the lake and to the sky.  
  
"Yeah, it's really nice out here." Matt said, while feeling a gust of wind that flew across his body. The two then walked toward a giant rock, which was right at the shore of the lake. Matt leaned forward, with his hands in his pockets, and felt his harmonica. "Hey, I haven't played this in a long time." Matt said, pulling it out and pressing it to his lips.  
  
"That's a great song, Matt." Gabumon said, lying down on the rock beside Matt. The two just sat there, one playing his harmonica, the other looking at the lake. Suddenly, Gabumon turned around.  
  
"What is it, Gabumon?" Matt asked, stopping from his playing to see his friend turn around abruptly.  
  
"I heard something." Gabumon simple said, jumping off the rock. He walked slowly to a bunch of bushes. As Gabumon got closer, the bushes seemed to rustle.  
  
"What was that?" Matt asked. Gabumon pounced into the bushes. All Matt saw were the bushes moving, looking like a tussle. "Gabumon!" Matt yelled, once he saw the bushes stop moving. Matt jumped off the rock, and looked at the bushes.  
  
"I'm alright, Matt." Gabumon said, peeking through the bushes.  
  
"That's good…what happened back there?" Matt asked, while Gabumon stepped through.   
  
"It wasn't anything, just this harmless Ziomon." Gabumon put out his arm, with a little digimon in his hand.   
  
"Hey, you. Need some help?" Matt asked the little digimon.  
  
"Uh…uh…yeah." The little Ziomon looked really nervous. It was shaking in Gabumon's palm. Matt picked it up, and cradled it in his arms. "I'm…lost."  
  
"You're lost? I'm sure Gabumon and I could help you." Matt said. "Where are you off to?"  
  
"I'm…I'm looking for Sparkling Waters. It's a waterfall that's supposed to be around here. But I got separated from my group and now I can't find them or the waterfall." Ziomon said.  
  
"Hey, there's a lake here, and the lake needs some source of water," Matt said, then examined the lake. "Over there! There seems to be a river where the water is coming from."  
  
"Yes, and we could follow the river until we get to Sparkling Waters!" Gabumon and Ziomon yelled in unison.  
  
"C'mon! We could find the rest of Ziomon's group by tomorrow! Then we'll meet up with the rest of the group by tomorrow night!" Matt yelled, with Ziomon in his arms, and Gabumon close behind him.  
  
  
******  
  
  
It was already dawn. Matt looked over his shoulder to see Gabumon behind him. Ziomon was sleeping in Matt's arms, while Matt walked up a small hill. The sun was rising to Matt's left, which made the river sparkle beside Matt. Matt then looked in front of him, over the horizon, to see a formation of rocks beside the river. It seemed really sunny, because there weren't any trees in that area, and Matt thought everyone could use a rest, so Matt decided that resting would be a good idea. They all perched themselves on top of the large rocks, and laid down. Matt stayed awake, while he put down Ziomon to his left, and Gabumon slept to his right. His hands were behind his head, and he looked up into the clear blue sky.  
  
"What was that?" Ziomon yelped, awaking from his sleep.   
  
"Huh? What happened?" Matt asked, leaning over, looking at the jumpy digimon.  
  
"Shhhh…I think, I think I hear them!" Ziomon yelled. He jumped off of the rock and started to skip further down the river. Matt woke up Gabumon, as they followed the happy digimon. They saw the small digimon stop at the edge of a cliff, staring intently at what was in front of him. Matt came up from behind Ziomon, and saw one of the greatest views he has ever seen.  
  
"Sparkling Waters…" Matt whispered to himself, seeing a giant valley with waterfalls coming from most of the sides, into a lake, which filled the base of the valley. Matt just stared at the valley, which sparkled and in the center shone a bright rainbow from the mist of the many waterfalls coming into the valley. Ziomon started to skip down a narrow path, which went down into the valley, as Matt and Gabumon followed.  
  
They followed Ziomon into a dark and dank cave, which had stalagmite and stalactite formations in it. There was no noise inside of the cave, except for water dripping every few seconds.  
  
"It's pretty scary in here." The little digimon whispered, but the echo in the cave made it sound louder than intended. "Look, there they are!" Matt and Gabumon looked ahead, as Ziomon skipped forward, and then turned a corner. Matt and Gabumon arrived about a second after Ziomon did, and saw about one thousand Ziomons in a little ditch, all together.  
  
"Hey look, its Ziomon!" One of the Ziomon yelled, as all of the rest of the Ziomon started to jump with joy.  
  
"Yeah! And these two helped me find you!" The Ziomon who Matt helped turned around to introduce them to his friends. "This is Matt, and this is Gabumon!" All Matt could do was lift his hands and wave his fingers at all of the digimon, while Gabumon was still amazed at the numbers of the little Ziomon.  
  
"So, these two helped you?" Matt and Gabumon snapped out of their trance, and heard a loud voice, which echoed through the cave.  
  
"Myriamon!" Matt and Gabumon yelled, seeing the evil digimon flying above them, almost touching the tall ceiling.   
  
"You helped my little Ziomon?" Myriamon asked again, still looking down. "Oh, wait. You're one of those pesky Digidestined, aren't you?"  
  
"What's it to ya'?" Matt yelled back.   
  
"It was an unwise decision helping my little Ziomon…even though I am very grateful. You see, these Ziomon will grow up to be my legion of their digivolved state, Goromon. They will be my final and front line in the assimilating of the digiworld." Myriamon said proudly, while still flying over Matt, the Ziomon, and Gabumon.  
  
"You'll never get away with that!" Matt yelled, while Gabumon warp-digivolved. "Get him, Metalgarurumon!" Metalgarurumon flew up to tackle Myriamon, but Myriamon dodged the attack and responded with a Dark Holy into Metalgarurumon's chest.  
  
"You will not win!" Myriamon yelled, while shooting more and more Dark Holy beams at Metalgarurumon, who dodged all of them. Then Metalgarurumon attacked Myriamon by tackling her, making her fall onto the ground far below her. Then Metalgarurumon was charging for his Wolf Claw, as Myriamon looked up at him in fear.   
  
"Sentinelmons, come!" Myriamon yelled, as two large digimon teleported into the room, and stopped Metalgarurumon from executing his attack on Myriamon.  
  
"Metalgarurumon!" Matt yelled, as he saw his digimon getting beat-up by the three digimon who outnumbered and out powered Metalgarurumon.   
  
"You're done for, futile digimon." Myriamon said to the flying, yet hurt Metalgarurumon. Then Myriamon lifted Metalgarurumon's face with her left hand, as he had her right hand opened at Metalgarurumon's left cheek. "Dark Holy," Myriamon said, as her blast made Metalgarurumon fall to the ground. Matt ran to his hurt digimon, who has dedigivolved back into Tsunomon.  
  
"You alright there, Tsunomon?" Matt asked, while picking up the small and hurt digimon. Myriamon and her two henchmen flew down towards Matt, hovering over him and his hurt digimon.  
  
"You will never defeat me." Myriamon said over Matt, who was kneeling over Tsunomon. Matt looked up. Myriamon looked at him, surprised by the expression on his face. "You…you're not afraid?" Myriamon asked, as she still looked at Matt's face, seeing the hate and resent in his eyes.  
  
"Even if you kill me, my friends will defeat you." Matt simply said, cradling Tsunomon. Myriamon hovered back, still surprised by this Digidestined. Then Myriamon examined Matt closer.   
  
"No. I don't think I'll be killing you anytime soon." Myriamon said, her face forming a smile. "Right now, I'm too weak to face your allies…so I think you could be useful to me."   
  
  
******  
  
  
The group was walking toward the crater again, and at the same time looking for Matt and Gabumon. They were walking along a long dirt path, which was surrounded by trees on their sides. The crater they were heading towards was in front of them.   
  
"We have to find Matt!" Mimi yelled, looking around. The rest of the group turned to her as they saw her frantically looking through around for Matt.  
  
"Calm down, Mimi!" Tai yelled. "I bet Matt wouldn't leave without a reasonable explanation."   
  
"Yeah, you know Matt," Joe said, trying to reassure her. "He's probably gonna meet up with us by tonight."  
  
"I hope so…" Mimi looked sad, as she followed everyone without talking.   
  
  
******  
  
  
The group was getting closer to the crater. They already took a break, and were walking to the crater again. Barry walked near Mimi again, also trying to comfort her. Tai was leading the way, with Agumon by his side. Sora and Barry were comforting Mimi about Matt's absence, with their digimon walking close to them. Behind them, TK and Kari were eating some candy that TK had, and they fed some to their digimon as well. Joe and Izzy were behind them, as Izzy was showing Joe how to operate his laptop. Tentomon and Gomamon stayed behind them also talking.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Tai yelled, as everyone looked up and ahead to where Tai was pointing. They all saw a moving figure, dressed in black and moving toward them. The figure walked closer, but the group stood still.   
  
"Tai, give me your telescope!" Mimi yelled, hoping that it was Matt.  
  
"Oh, yeah! Here ya' go." Tai said, handing her his telescope. Mimi peered into it, and her face lit up with delight.  
  
"It's Matt! It's him!" Mimi yelled. "Let's go!" Mimi started to run toward Matt, as everyone else followed her. Once they got close enough, they all confirmed it was Matt. Mimi was the first person to reach Matt, who stopped in his tracks once he was about a yard away from her. She stopped also, and looked at him. "Matt, you look different." Mimi said. She looked at him, and saw he was wearing black turtleneck, black cargo pants, and gray Timberland boots.  
  
"Matt, who's that?" Sora asked, talking about the different digimon that he had in his hand.   
  
"This? This is my new digimon, Sygmamon." Matt said, looking at the group.  
  
"Why? What happened to Gabumon?" Asked Tai.  
  
"Gabumon? He's resting. We had a little run-in with Myriamon."  
  
"What?! Is he OK?" Joe asked.  
  
"Don't worry, he's fine."   
  
"How did you escape?" Sora asked.  
  
"We didn't." Everyone was surprised at Matt's answer. Suddenly, a light swirled beside Matt. After the light disappeared, the group saw Myriamon standing next to Matt with her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Yes, Yamato is one of my disciples now." Myriamon talked with a large smile on her face. "And he will also be the end of all of you."  
  
"Never! Matt wouldn't betray us!" Tai yelled.  
  
"He didn't betray you…I had to brainwash him." Myriamon said, her smile fading from her face. "And now, the final touch to my masterpiece." Myriamon brought out both of her hands, and revealed another crest. "You see, I don't think that Crest of Friendship really suits my Yamato, now. But I think the Crest of Evil will fit him just fine." Myriamon put the crest around Matt's neck, who was still staring at his ex-friends.   
"Matt! Don't listen to her!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I have no choice." Matt said.   
  
"I think I'll leave you here Yamato." Myriamon said. "Finish them off…I have faith in you." With that, Myriamon disappeared.  
  
"C'mon, Matt! You can't fight us!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I have to…she said it was my destiny." Matt said, a smile forming on his face. Suddenly, Matt's crest started to glow a gray color, while Sygmamon digivolved.  
  
"Oh, no." Gomamon said, while looking at the digivolved state of Sygmamon. "It's Demonmon." The giant digimon flew over the group, with gargoyle-like wings, three fingers and toes, and was all black. The characteristic that made Gomamon most afraid were his eyes, they were dark red and his left one his a matching red scar that went from the top of its forehead down along his cheek and ended before his chin. Demonmon hovered above them, him right arm wrapped around his waist, while his left wrapped across his chest to his right shoulder.  
  
"C'mon, let's go! It's not Gabumon, so we'll be fine!" Tai yelled. All the other digimon digivolved into their highest digivolved state, but only Tai's could become a mega. Wargreymon attacked Demonmon with his Terra Force, but Demonmon easily dodged it and retaliated by hitting Wargreymon on his back with his elbow. Next, Diazemon used his Shock Wave, but Demonmon just blocked the attack and redirected it to Zudomon.  
  
"This guy's too hard!" Barry yelled. Next, Garudamon tried to tackle Demonmon, but Demonmon stopped the attack by grabbing onto Garudamon's beak and helmet and threw her into the downed Wargreymon.   
  
Now, Demonmon took the offensive. First, he grabbed Lilymon by her neck and punched her with his other arm. Next he yelled Eternal Darkness as three bolts of energy came from his hands and hit Diazemon, Angemon, and Angewomon. Next he grabbed Megakabuterimon's horn and threw him to the ground, following up by ramming into Megakabuterimon immediately after he landed. By now, the group was losing hope, as they saw their digimon getting easily beaten by Demonmon. Mimi looked up, to see Lilymon get hit again, and started to cry.  
  
"No! Why is this happening?" Mimi said to herself. Then she looked at Matt, who was just standing and staring at the group. ~Matt! He needs to stop this! It's his digimon that hurting our friends.~ Mimi started to run toward Matt, dodging debris that fell to the ground from the fight.   
  
"Mimi! What are you doing!?!" Sora yelled.  
  
"I've got to tell Matt how I feel." Mimi kept repeating to herself. "That has to change him." Matt looked at Mimi once she stopped running and stopped right in front of him. She was out of breath, but still looked up at him.  
  
"What are you doing?" Matt asked, a little mad that she was able to get this close to him.  
  
"Matt! You've got to stop this! You're going to kill us!" Mimi yelled.  
  
"Isn't that the point?" Matt simply said.  
  
"No! Matt, don't kill us…" Mimi pleaded with him, still crying. "I don't want to be without you…dead or alive. Matt, I love you so much." She was still crying, but she looked anyway. She saw his deep blue eyes looking at her. Then she leaned in, and kissed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, while he brought his arms around her waist and held her closer. The group watched this, now ignoring the fight that is happening above them. Then Matt and Mimi separated. Mimi looked at Matt, who lifted his head and stroked his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath. Then he started laughing.  
  
"Did you actually think that could change me?" Matt said, still laughing. "You are surely mistaken then." Everyone looked at Matt. They were surprised by his actions, and saw his crest glowing. Mimi stepped back, still looking at him.  
  
"Matt…no…" Mimi said, as she looked at him. The rest of the group ran to them.  
  
"What are you doing, Matt?!" Tai yelled.  
  
"I guess you're going to follow through with your master's orders." Sora said coldly, while trying to comfort Mimi. Once Sora said that, Matt's smile turned immediately into a frown.  
  
"Master? Is that what you think Myriamon is to me?" Matt asked.  
  
"Yes. It seems that you follow all of her commands without question." Izzy said, also mad at Matt.  
  
"She is not my master!" Matt yelled, but then gathered himself. "She thinks she controls me."  
  
"What? What are going to do?" Joe asked.  
  
"Me? Once Gabumon is done with his brainwashing, I'm going to take Demonmon and Chromegarurumon and have a little talk about who should be ruler."  
  
"You're going to betray Myriamon?" Sora asked.  
  
"Not only that, but she's weak…and I'm afraid I have no choice but to kill her." Matt said, and then Demonmon flew behind Matt and hovered beside him. "I think you should take care of your digimon…I have big plans for all of you also." Then Matt and Demonmon disappeared in a flash of light.  
  
  
******  
  
  
It was nightfall again, and the group decided to take a rest. They found a nice open spot, with a pond nearby where Gomamon and Joe caught fish. They all sat around the campfire, silent. They were all thinking about their run-in with Matt. TK started to cry; thinking about what Myriamon did to his brother. Barry walked over and comforted TK.  
  
"Don't worry, little guy. We'll get your brother back to normal." Barry said, while having one of his arms around TK.  
  
"You…you think so?" TK said, sniffling and wiping his tears.  
  
"Yeah." Barry said. "So, what you got there?" Barry tried to get TK's mind off of his evil brother.  
  
"Oh, it's my bag full of candy. Want one?" TK opened the bag.  
  
"Sure." Barry said, and picked up a lollipop. Mimi was still crying, with her head in her hands, and leaning on a log. The rest of the group was taking care of their hurt digimon. Suddenly, two black portals appeared over the campsite.  
  
"What's that?" Kari asked, while Nyaromon was in her arms. From the two portals, came two Sentinelmons.  
  
"Come with us." One of the Sentinelmons said. Tai got up, with Koromon in his arms.  
  
"Never!" He yelled.   
  
"You have no choice. All of your digimon are hurt and cannot protect you." The same Sentinalmon said. "Don't worry, we have orders to not hurt you…but we can take you in any way we want." The whole group stood up.   
  
"Fine." Was all that Tai said.  
  
  
******  
  
  
The whole group found themselves in large jail cells, everyone with their own. Their digimon were in the infirmary. They all stayed quiet, most of them sitting on their cell beds and others stood near the metal bars that lined the inside.  
  
"So, how do you think we're gonna get out of this mess?" Tai asked, who was leaning on the metal bars.  
  
"Dunno…" Barry said, sitting on his bed. "We have no digimon, and these cells are impossible to escape." Everyone looked glum. There were ten cells in the large room. Barry looked around. Tai was to his left, and on Tai's left was TK. To Barry's right was Mimi. On the other side, Kari was all the way on the left, then Joe, Sora, and Izzy going to the right. Barry looked back down to the solid metal floor. The others stayed quiet too. Suddenly, they all heard an explosion from down the hall where the door was.   
  
"What was that?" Sora asked, now pinned against the metal bars, trying to get a glimpse at the door. Then they heard fighting and yelling. Then the door burst open revealing Metalgreymon and Lilymon coming through the door.  
  
"Let's go!" Metalgreymon said, having to dedigivolve to fit through the door. Lilymon used her Flower Cannon to destroy the locks. The kids ran out with Metalgreymon and Lilymon, seeing the rest of their digimon fighting Technomons, who were the guards inside of Myriamon's castle. The kids ran down a small hallway, with their digimon behind them and in front of them fending off the Technomons.  
  
"Where are we going?" Kari asked while running.  
  
"We gotta get outta here or else we're toast!" Tai yelled, leading the way for the kids. They arrived at a large black door.   
  
"What's this?" Barry asked, while examining it.  
  
"Who cares? Izzy, try to find a way to open this door!" Tai yelled again, seeing that their digimon were having trouble with the hordes of Technomon chasing them.  
  
"Right!" Izzy got his laptop, and inputted his modem into a socket near the large door.  
  
"C'mon, Izzy!" TK yelled, seeing a missile from the Technomons hits Angemon.  
  
"Prodigious!" Izzy yelled, once unlocking the door. "Everyone inside!" The digimon opened the large door for the kids as they all walked in. The door shut automatically behind them.  
  
"What happened?" Sora asked, while looking around the dark room.   
  
"I'm glad to see you made it." The whole group looked in front of them, to see a large window with a black desk on a large mound with three sets of stairs leading up on it. The walls suddenly lit with small lamps, giving the room a little light. The kids could see that it was night outside, as the darkness matched the black marble inside of the large room. Behind the desk sat Matt, with his hands clasped together near his mouth and his elbows on the desk.  
  
"Matt!" They all yelled. The only thing that stood out from the rest of the room was Matt's blue eyes and his blonde hair. They all ran closer to him.  
  
"Matt! You're not going to get away with this!" Tai yelled. Matt looked up slightly, and stared at Tai. He put down his hands and stood up and walked in front of his desk.  
  
"Oh, I already have." Matt said.  
  
"What? Your goons didn't even scratch us." Tai said proudly, while crossing his arms.  
  
"Wait." Matt said, looking back at Tai. "You actually thought you got here by yourself?" Matt said, and then saw Tai and the group startled.   
  
"What do you mean by that?" Tai yelled back.  
  
"I mean that those 'goons' that were chasing you were my weakest of my army." Matt said. "Don't you see…I wanted you to come here."  
  
"Why?" Joe asked, still startled.  
  
"I know that if I offered you anything, then you would decline it…so I wanted to face your digimon against my digimon in a final battle." Matt then pressed a button on his desk, as two large doors opened from the walls. "These are your two rivals, Demonmon and Chromegarurumon." The two digimon stepped through the doors, and glared at the kids their digimon. "Your digimon are healthy now. You have no choice but to fight."  
  
"Fine, then." Tai said. "Go Wargreymon!" The other digimon digivolved also, flying to face both of Matt's digimon. Matt was still leaning on his desk, as the battle of the digimon was happening near the ceiling of the tall room.  
  
"So you actually think your digimon are going to win?" Matt said to the rest of them.  
  
"I don't care…you said that we didn't have a choice anyway." Tai yelled.  
  
"Right." Matt got up from his desk. "So how do you think you're going to get out of here?"  
  
"By stopping you." Tai said.  
  
"You actually think that you can stop me?" Matt said, with a smile on his face. Tai got an angry look on his face and started to run toward Matt.  
  
"You're mine, Matt!!!" Tai yelled, with a clenched fist. He ran up the flight of stairs and met Matt at the top. "You're going down!" Tai swung at the unusually calm Matt. Tai's speeding fist was stopped by Matt's arm.  
  
"You see…this Crest of Evil has given me powers also." Matt easily dodged Tai's second swing and retaliated by punching Tai in the stomach. Then Tai crumpled up and fell to the floor. The rest of the group ran up the stairs and helped Tai. Matt walked over to the large window that was behind his desk.  
  
"Matt! What are you doing?" Sora yelled, with tears in her eyes.  
  
"I'm just taking out the final obstacles that are getting in my way." Matt said, still staring out the window.  
  
"You think by enslaving the Digiworld, you're going to become great!?!" Joe yelled. Matt lowered his head.  
  
"Ruling only the Digiworld was Myriamon's idea." Matt said. "I think of greater feats with greater rewards. After taking over the Digiworld, I plan to take over the real world."  
  
"What? You can't do that?" Barry yelled.  
  
"I can't?" Matt said, then let out a little laugh. "All I need to do is take all of you out, and that's that. Everything will be mine." Mimi got up, and walked toward Matt.  
  
"Matt?" She said meekly, while staring at him. "C'mon, Matt. This isn't you. I remember the Matt that cared for his little brother, I remember the Matt who played his harmonica to the rest of the group…I remember the Matt that I love."  
  
"Love?" Matt said, still staring at the window. "Love is weak. It makes whoever it enraptures care for others and give themselves for them. I used to rely on that, to care for all of you." Matt turned around, facing Mimi. "Now, evil is helping me. It gives me strengths that you can't even imagine. I live for myself, and not for others. Love? Ha. That's a sickening concept that misleads people into caring for things and people that they don't need."  
  
"What? How can you say that? What about TK?" Mimi asked.  
  
"I was hoping that he would grow older to become like his older brother, but since he's one of you…" Matt said, while trailing off.  
  
"No…you're not Matt…" Mimi said, walking backwards in disbelief.  
  
"Oh I'm not? I'm not the Matt who fought with you, the Matt who helped you in times of need…the Matt who you used to love?" Matt had a smile on his face, staring into Mimi's eyes. "You see, love only brings heartbreak." Matt then walked back to his desk and pressed another button, which revealed his crest. "I guess I won't be needing this anymore." Matt said, grabbing the crest and throwing it to the group.  
  
"No…no…no…" Mimi said to herself, while clutching her head.  
  
"You know, Mimi. That kiss actually weakened my crest." Matt said. Suddenly, Matt started to have a headache. He fell to the ground, as he remembered the feeling of the kiss. "What?" Matt said. Everyone looked at him, surprised. Matt's eyes widened as he remembered the touch of Mimi's lips to his, how his heart seemed to melt from that feeling, and how he wanted it again.  
  
"What's happening to Matt?" Sora asked. Then Matt looked at them, his eyes with his old caring glare.  
  
"Quick…you have to get this Crest off my neck…" Matt whispered, seeming to strain to speak. They all looked at him, then Sora, TK, and Izzy held him down, while Kari took off the Crest of Evil. Suddenly, his body jumped up, bring Matt to his feet. "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" Matt screamed, pain flowing through his body. The group heard Matt talking in two voices, one in his evil tone the other in his old cool tone.   
  
"What's happening?" Izzy asked, seeing Matt screaming.   
  
"Hey, where's the Crest of Friendship?" TK asked, as Tai handed it to him. TK slowly walked toward Matt. "Matt, hold still! I'm gonna put this on ya'!" TK yelled. Matt tried to stay still. TK lifted the Crest of Friendship, and almost put around Matt 's neck. Suddenly Matt turned around, with his evil glare and grabbed TK by his shirt and threw him backward.   
  
"TK!" Mimi yelled, running to TK. "You alright?"  
  
  
"I'm fine, but we have to put on Matt's old crest on Matt or else he won't know which to be…evil or friendly!" TK yelled. Matt fell back to the floor, still clutching his head.  
  
"Mimi…give…give me my crest…" Matt said, reaching for his crest, which wasn't at his reach. Mimi crawled over to the Crest of Friendship and grabbed it.  
  
"Quick Mimi!" TK yelled.  
  
"Mimi!!!" Matt yelled, still with his arm reaching for his crest. Mimi extended her body so she could reach Matt, and handed it to him. Matt grabbed his crest, and stood up. His body seemed to strain when putting it on, almost like part of him wanting to put it on, while the other refusing to. Mimi got up and ran to Matt. She dove as her hands met his arms and pushed them down, making him put on his crest. Suddenly, his crest began to glow, and a beam came out hitting Chromegarurumon. It made Chromegarurumon dedigivolve back into Gabumon, then warp-digivolve into Metalgarurumon.   
  
"What the heck?" Sora said, looking back at the digimon battle. She saw all of their digimon on the floor, except for Metalgarurumon and Demonmon. Demonmon had his back turned from Metalgarurumon, as Metalgarurumon tackled him from behind.  
  
"Hey! Metalgarurumon's on our side!" Tai yelled. Then Metalgarurumon shot some missiles at Demonmon, making Demonmon fall to the floor.  
  
"Way to go, Metalgarurumon!" Kari yelled. Suddenly, Demonmon got up, as his eyes started to glow.  
  
"Risk." Demonmon said, as his body began to glow red, and bursts of energy began to crack through his body.  
  
"Metalgarurumon! Save them!" Matt yelled, as Metalgarurumon swooped down and took the kids, then their dedigivolved digimons.  
  
"Matt!" Mimi yelled as she saw Matt still at his desk. "What are you doing?!" She yelled while carrying Tanemon and on Metalgarurumon's back.   
  
"Just get out! I need to stop the brainwashing of the digimon and free them from the castle before it explodes!!!" Matt yelled. Matt was still at his desk, when Metalgarurumon flew toward the window and crashed through it.  
  
"Matt!!!" Mimi yelled, as she saw hordes of digimon leaving the castle. "Oh no!!!" Suddenly the castle started to explode behind them, leaving the group wondering about Matt.  
  
  
******  
  
  
After the explosion and the destruction of Myriamon's castle, the group went back to the ruins to look for Matt. With their digimon fully healed, they went through the rubble to find Matt's body. They were all spread out, but it was a large area they had to cover.  
  
"It's gonna take us days to at least scour the surface!" Joe yelled, lifting a rock and throwing it over his shoulder. The group got further and further apart, looking for Matt. Mimi was with Palmon, but suddenly broke down crying.  
  
"What's wrong, Mimi?" Palmon asked.  
  
"Matt's gone…" Mimi said, still crying. "I miss him so much."  
  
"Don't worry, Mimi. I bet we're going to find him." Palmon said. "Look, why don't you stay here while I look for Matt?"  
  
"Thanks Palmon." Mimi said, ending with a sniffle. Mimi let her hat fall off her head, as she stopped crying. She looked down at the puddle of water she made with her tears. "Why? Why Matt?" She said to herself. She was still looking down, when she saw a shadow appear behind her. "I guess you didn't find him…" Mimi said, still looking down. "Don't worry, Palmon. I just hope one of the others did."  
  
"It's not Palmon." Mimi heard a masculine voice, definitely not Palmon's. She turned around to Matt, clutching a large cut on his left shoulder, leaning forward. She saw he wasn't wearing a shirt, his crest still hung around his neck, but there were little cuts all over his body and dust marks all over him.  
  
"Matt!" She yelled, jumping up and hugging him.   
  
"Ow!" He said, after she accidentally touched his cut on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry!" She said, picking up his arm and putting it around her neck.  
  
"Heh, It's alright." Matt said, while being helped by Mimi.  
  
  
******  
  
  
The group spent the whole day at camp, taking care of Matt. He lay across a log, with Mimi by his side. Izzy was on his laptop figuring a way to contact Gennai so they could get out of the Digiworld. Joe was with the digimon, taking care of them from their battle with Demonmon and Chromegarurumon. Tai, Sora, and Barry were talking by the fireplace. TK and Kari were already asleep.  
  
"You feeling better, Matt?" Mimi asked. Matt had bandages across his stomach and around his left shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, thanks." He said, trying to get up. "Arrgghh!"   
  
"Don't get up! You're just going to hurt yourself." Mimi said, putting her hand on his arm motioning him to lie back down.   
  
"Thanks, Mimi." Matt said.  
  
"Huh? You already thanked me!"   
  
"No, I mean…um, with that kiss. It saved us." Matt said, a little ashamed. "When I remembered that kiss, it broke through the evil in me and saved me." Matt said. Mimi looked over him, then smiled and blushed.  
  
"It…it was nothing." Mimi said quietly, still blushing.  
  
"Hey, you don't to worry about me. Why don't you get some shut-eye?" Matt said, then pointed to the rest of the group. "It's getting pretty dark, and the others are hitting the sack. Don't worry, I'll be fine."   
  
"OK, then." Mimi said, kissing him on the forehead and walked toward the rest of the group. ~She's amazing.~ Matt thought. He kept his eyes on her, as laid down. She looked up and saw Matt looking at her, and waved at him. He waved back. ~Very amazing.~  
  
  
******  
  
  
Matt couldn't sleep. His mind was only on what he did to the rest of the group. I betrayed them, fought them, and almost killed them. Mimi. She was the one who saved us, me. ~That kiss…it was unexplainable. Matt looked around the dark campsite. I did that to them, who're helping me recover. I don't know how to make it up to them. Matt felt his shoulder again. I'm feeling better, I bet they won't mind if I take a walk~. Matt then got up. From where he was, he could see that trees lined the campsite, and there was an opening to a plain on the other side. He walked over to it, careful not to wake anyone up.  
  
Once exiting the campsite, he saw a large hill with the moon glowing behind it. From the moonlight, he could see someone sitting on a rock at the top. Matt walked up the hill, going toward the sitting figure. He stood behind her, looking at her looking at the moon. Then he put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Wha?" She turned around, to face Matt.  
  
"Hey, Mimi." Matt said.  
  
"Matt! You're not supposed to be standing!" Mimi said, getting up and trying to help him.  
  
"Don't worry. I'm fine." Matt said. Then he looked back into her eyes. "Mimi, I want say sorry."   
  
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Mimi asked.  
  
"The way I acted. I just had a hate in me. It took over my body and overwhelmed me, making me say those things to you, and about your love." Matt was now cringing.  
  
"Don't…don't worry. I know that Myriamon brainwashed you. It wasn't your fault, she did that to you and you came through for us." She smiled while looking at him. The moonlight crashed down on them, making their bodies seem to glow. She looks great. Matt thought, while looking at Mimi.   
  
"Mimi…do you still love me?" Matt asked, taking Mimi by surprise. She looked down, embarrassed. She blushed again. "I mean, we've been through a lot since the time you said that. I'm just wondering if you're feelings have changed." Matt was still looking at her. ~Great, Matt. You just ruined everything.~  
  
"I…yes I still love you." Mimi was still looking down. A smile appeared on Matt's face, as he put his index finger under her chin and raised her head. She looked into his eyes, and saw him staring at her with love and care. Then they started to lean towards each other, closing their eyes. Their lips pressed against each other's, as they felt a jolt of electricity flow through their bodies. Matt wrapped his arm behind Mimi, as brought her closer to him. Mimi wrapped her arms around her neck as they held on, loving the feeling that flowed through them. They eventually broke the kiss, and stared back into each other's eyes.  
  
"Good, because I love you too."  
  
  
  
  



End file.
